The Guadalquivir Salt Marshes

Stretching across a tract of some 2,000 km² in the river estuary, between Seville, Huelva and Cádiz, they are part of the Doñana National Park, one of Europe’s largest wetlands. It is home to over 100 bird species which are endemic to the ecosystem and create a stunning spectacle whenever they take off into flight. A land where the birds can be imagined playing flamenco, and the red crabs clapping in unison.

The area provides ideal itineraries for what seasoned travellers like best – to wander off on their own. Literally getting lost here, however, is not that difficult, what with hundreds of unmarked footpaths winding between the rice fields.

Seville’s Amazon

Our itinerary starts along the course of the Guadalquivir and its countless effluents branching off near the river mouth, a picture postcard reminiscent of the Amazon. Located here is Isla Mayor, a town of just over 5,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by grasslands and crop fields, the town appears to turn into a genuine island when flooded. For hiking enthusiasts, there are also a number of routes through the town which can be done by bicycle.

Canoeing devotees should make a point of visiting the Brazo de los Jerónimos, a canal thick with reeds and rushes, which makes paddling along it a unique experience.

Going Back In Time

Crossing from one bank of the Guadalquivir to the other can only be done by taking the Coria del Río ferry. This delightful crossing spanning 300 metres in just 3 minutes is reminiscent of some fast-paced American movie set on the Mississippi or in the Everglades. The crossing takes place with passengers jostling for space with cars, tractors, fishermen, goats and farm motorcycles and is an experience in which time seemingly stands still.

A stunning sight to be had from the riverbank is when a merchant or cruise vessel sails inland with the high tide just a few metres away, bound for the port of Seville, or in the direction of the Atlantic. This astonishing, surreal image will remain in your mind’s eye forever.

Having reached Coria, the itinerary takes us downstream as far as Puebla del Río, along the Calle Arrozal, a land trail winding between poplars and carpeted in spring with grass and wild flowers. On this side of the river, you have the chance to visit such towns as Poblado de las Colinas or Utrera.

Finger-licking Cuisine

After a boat ride, it’s time to enjoy some molletes (muffins) ortoast with colorá lard to regain your strength. This is the most traditional breakfast in the area and any bar worth its salt will offer this spread based on pork lard sprinkled with speckles of meat condimented with garlic, red pepper, oregano, bay leaf and other spices. Even Paco de Lucía himself was bowled over by this delight on the senses, to which he dedicated a few notes and chords in some of his more celebrated melodies.

But, the culinary offerings of these Sevillian wetlands go much further still. Indeed, they are as varied as the landscape itself.

If you happen to be here in June, you can attend the Feria y Fiestas del Arroz y del Cangrejo (Fair and Festival of Rice and Crab), which lasts for five days and provides such typical dishes as tomato crab, crab tails with garlic or sauce, pepper shrimps, duck with rice and salted bleaks.

Restaurants like El Tejao, Sevruga or El Estero offer delicious dishes of crab, elvers, duck, giltheads or bass, served up with the inevitable rice, on the banks of the Guadalquivir.

To taste another essential dish in this area, pheasant with rice, head for the Arco de Colina restaurant – their quality and prices will leave you aghast.

Dare to venture into the Guadalquivir salt marshes? Check out your Vueling to Seville here.

Text by Laura Llamas for Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

As far as taste goes, Lanzarote tastes really good. It offers enclaves secluded from mass tourism where you can eat marvellous dishes that would wow any modern urbanite in search of authenticity, quality and good taste. Here are five eateries you simply cannot pass up.

Sol

This restaurant, with a terrace sitting right on the beach sand, is located in the priceless Caleta de Famara, a surfing spot with an island ambience, the architecture and spirit of which will immediately take you back to the white villages of Cádiz. Here you will enjoy home cooking in the finest sense, a breath of fresh air for anyone who is tired of the modishness prevailing in practically all corners of the big capitals. Sol is the place to book a table overlooking the sea and savour grilled fresh fish, accompanied by some traditional Lanzarote dish. If you’re looking for creative Canary Island cuisine and somewhat more sophistication, a few yards away is El Risco – an upcoming Michelin star?

Lost Paradise

If you hankering after the magical, alternative touch, be sure to contact Bruno, the life and soul of Lost Paradise, a small company based in Lanzarote which organises customised activities. He will take you sailing off the beautiful beaches of El Papagayo and invite you to join him fishing. Later, he will light his barbecue, prepare some amazing salad, open a bottle of wine or some beers and cook whatever he has caught earlier on. An unforgettable experience, in which you will savour produce that melts in the mouth and then take a nap on the high seas.

El Fondeadero

The first sign that gets you thinking El Fondeadero de Teguise must be the place to be is that it is frequented by locals – mainly workmen from the area. And, when you see their spectacular charcoaled fish, prawn in earthenware dishes and numerous tapas crafted with food from the sea, you will be in no doubt that you’ve hit the jackpot. You settle down at a table in this aesthetically plain yet pretty, happy and sunlit restaurant and go through the menu, which will surprise you for its really affordable prices. Avenida Los Corales 22 (Teguise)

El Caletón

Pressing on with freshly caught fish and a restaurant – like the previous one – frequented by locals, El Caletón is hidden in a corner of El Golfo island and affords beautiful views of the sea. Its secret lies in providing top quality raw material, extremely fresh fish and seafood accompanied by traditional starters, salads and other offerings, good local wines and a service brimming with hospitality and proximity. Their large sea-facing patio means that guests with children can while away the afternoon glass in hand, with the lapping waves in the background, while the kids bask in the splendid temperatures that Lanzarote is blessed with all year around, among other things. Avenida Marítima 66 (El Golfo)

Jameos del Agua

While this is the mainstream offering in our list, it is by no means less alluring. Jameos del Agua is the island’s number one tourist attraction, with the permission of the magnificent Timanfaya National Park. This is a spatial construction worked over a series of natural grottoes by the Lanzarote artist, César Manrique, located inside a volcanic tunnel produced by the eruption of La Corona Volcano. It features a priceless café set in a beautiful yet disturbing lunar landscape, the ideal spot for taking a breather to enjoy the silence and the views.

Staying the Night

Spice

The more broad-minded can book a room in the only hotel in Europe dedicated to swingers. What are the requirements? Those making a booking must be a mixed, male-female, couple who can afford the €300 per night fee for the room and who are not fazed by anything. Because, if you ask the staff what people actually get up to once they cross the threshold of Spice, they answer categorically – Anything goes! What do you mean by anything? “Anything, anywhere, as long as it is consensual”.

Now that we’ve left you open-mouthed with these magnificent offerings, all that’s left it to book your Vueling and experience them.

Text and photos by Laura Conde of Gastronomistas.com

It’s clear that to add the most before an adjective always brings a certain controversy. Even more if it’s about choosing the most beautiful village of a country. In this decision, several factors are kept in mind such as its artistic and historic heritage and the landscape that surrounds it. To this effect, its citizens, associations and institutions make an effort and put all their determination in embellish it, because it will affect favourably in attracting tourism and its develop.

In Spain, the association Los pueblos más bonitos de España makes its selection choosing between the most isolated, in the mountains, or the historical, or the beautiful villages bathed by the Mediterranean Sea or the Cantabric Sea. Towns like Ronda in Málaga, Vejer de la Frontera in Cádiz, Cangas de Onís or Cudillero in Asturias, Altea in Alicante, Albarracín in Teruel, Úbeda in Jaén, Priego de Córdoba in Córdoba, Comillas in Cantabria, Laguardia in La Rioja or Alquézar in Huesca never miss these rankings.

In France, the association Les plus beaux villages de France has its own list, where villages like Pesmes, Eguisheim, Yvoire, la Grave, Saint-Suliac, Parfondeva, Josselin, Monte Saint-Michel o la Roque-Gageac are the highlights.

In Italy we have a multitude to choose amongst the little villages distributed all over the Tuscany, the colorful towns in the South, Vernazza or Manarola in Cinque Terre, San Gimignano or Tropea in the Calabrian coast, not to mention its fairytale charming villages that spread Germany or Switzerland.

In England also exists this interest to get declared the most beautiful town. Per se, the picturesque English countryside is an excelent frame, with beautiful landscapes and splendids medieval towns with an enormous historical value.

In the area of Cotswolds there are huge pile of them, so it is difficult to decide for one. Perhaps a good candidate to gain such valued title seems to be Knaresborough. It’s a town with medieval origins that was, for a long time, a spa town for the burgeoisie, in the county of North Yorkshire, at the north-east of England.

It keeps excellent historical monuments, like Knaresborough Castle, the viaduct over the Nidd river, passages that surround you in mistery and its houses, squares and stone stairs, which weave a path through the river until the peak of the hill.

We can also approach to Shanklin, a little village in the east coast of the Wight Island, that was an usual beach destiny during the Victorian epoch. What makes it so special are its vegetable roofs which give particular charming and a kind of rustic air.

Its sand beaches that continues beyond Desando and Shanklin, the Victorian pier, the picturesque defile that leads until the old beach and its old quarter, where the old methods of building roofs are preservated, make this town a solid candidate of the most beautiful town in England.

But, apparently, the prize is shared between Bibury and Castle Combe. The secret of the charming of Bibury, in Gloucestershire county, lies in its stone houses and its loftly roofs. Also the natural landscape of the town, surrounded of streams and ponds.

That’s how the poet and artisan William Morris thougt it, who baptised it years ago as the most beautiful town in England. And so The Huffington Post, that named it in the ranking of "The Most Charming Towns In Europe You'll Want To Visit ASAP".

On the other handm Castle Combe has been the setting of lots of movies, such as Steven Spielberg’s War Horse or Matthew Vaughn’s Stardust, among others. And it’s not of coincidence. Castle Combe is placed very close from the Cotsworlds Capital, Cirencester, a series of hills that crosses the south-east and west zone of England.

All the zone stands out for its natural beauty and this town has shown worthy of be one of the most beautiful places. Without any discordant in its architecture and by its charming and the peace that one can breath, Castle Crombe conquers everyone that visits it.

But, as there’s no accounting for taste, the best way to choose is go to England, take a look and decide for oneself.

Picture Castel Combe by Saffron Blaze

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